Political Dig

As President Trump’s approval ratings continue to sink, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is jumping ship and is now blaming the erratic president for the perception that Republicans are failing to govern and suggested that Trump could benefit from reviewing how the U.S. government actually works.

While speaking at the Florence Rotary Club in Kentucky on Monday, Aug. 7, McConnell said Trump has “excessive expectations” about how quickly the legislative process should occur, The Hill reports. During his speech, McConnell said he finds it “extremely irritating” Congress has a reputation for not getting anything done.

McConnell also appeared to suggest Trump doesn’t really understand how Congress works.

“Our new president, of course, has not been in this line of work before,” said McConnell according to CNN affiliate WCPO which covered the event. “I think he had excessive expectations about how quickly things happen in the democratic process.”

McConnell made the case that the Congress is working as it should and that voters should allow the process to play itself out before passing judgment.

“Part of the reason I think people think we’re underperforming is because of too many artificial deadlines unrelated to the reality of the legislature which may have not been understood.”

In short, the Senate majority leader seemingly blames Trump’s ignorance over the fact some might view the Republican party as ineffective in terms of its ability to push its agenda through Congress. Trump will likely not appreciate this critique, but perhaps it’s something he needs to hear.

But while Trump is clearly unfit to be president, he’s hardly the only one to blame for how unpopular Congress is.

McConnell is also arguably overlooking the fact legislation put forward by Republicans in recent months has been exceptionally unpopular, especially in terms of health care. Perhaps the Republican leadership would have an easier time pushing for health care reform if it didn’t champion bills that could potentially take health coverage away from millions of people. It’s hard to rally politicians behind a bill when they’re aware of the backlash it could generate among their constituents.

If McConnell is truly searching for the source of the GOP’s problems in Congress perhaps he and the rest of the leadership should look in the mirror.